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Biogenic uraninite precipitation and its reoxidation by iron(III) (hydr)oxides: A reaction modeling approach |
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| Authors: | Nicolas F Spycher Montarat Issarangkun S Sevinç ?engör Tim R Ginn Rajesh K Sani |
| Institution: | a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA b University of California at Davis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Davis, CA 95616, USA c Montana State University, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA d South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA |
| Abstract: | One option for immobilizing uranium present in subsurface contaminated groundwater is in situ bioremediation, whereby dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria and/or sulfate-reducing bacteria are stimulated to catalyze the reduction of soluble U(VI) and precipitate it as uraninite (UO2). This is typically accomplished by amending groundwater with an organic electron donor. It has been shown, however, that once the electron donor is entirely consumed, Fe(III) (hydr)oxides can reoxidize biogenically produced UO2, thus potentially impeding cleanup efforts. On the basis of published experiments showing that such reoxidation takes place even under highly reducing conditions (e.g., sulfate-reducing conditions), thermodynamic and kinetic constraints affecting this reoxidation are examined using multicomponent biogeochemical simulations, with particular focus on the role of sulfide and Fe(II) in solution. The solubility of UO2 and Fe(III) (hydr)oxides are presented, and the effect of nanoscale particle size on stability is discussed. Thermodynamically, sulfide is preferentially oxidized by Fe(III) (hydr)oxides, compared to biogenic UO2, and for this reason the relative rates of sulfide and UO2 oxidation play a key role on whether or not UO2 reoxidizes. The amount of Fe(II) in solution is another important factor, with the precipitation of Fe(II) minerals lowering the Fe+2 activity in solution and increasing the potential for both sulfide and UO2 reoxidation. The greater (and unintuitive) UO2 reoxidation by hematite compared to ferrihydrite previously reported in some experiments can be explained by the exhaustion of this mineral from reaction with sulfide. Simulations also confirm previous studies suggesting that carbonate produced by the degradation of organic electron donors used for bioreduction may significantly increase the potential for UO2 reoxidation through formation of uranyl carbonate aqueous complexes. |
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